Any other day
by NoBuddy
Summary: Sephiroth, on his first birthday without his best friends, Angeal and Genesis - mild CC spoilers


**Author's Note: Oh well, reading lately these other fics about Seph's birthday got me into the mood to just get my own vision on this out of my head right now. Might contain some Crisis Core spoilers, as this is placed within its timeline, and I've been trying for some time now to imagine how Sephiroth's life could have been with his two best friends, Angeal and Genesis, which this is all about, after all. ****The English translation of the incidental quotes from CC belongs to Silenttweak. Bow to you, man!**

**And, by the way, my friend Glaurung has made an absolutely great drawing of our three dear angels with the birthday cake, which is the most awesome illustration I could dream of for my fic! You can find the link to it in my profile page.**

**YAY!! They finally added Genesis and Angeal on the characters' list for the stories! (dances around) But - rats! - how do I do to add the third one too?? I mean they ARE three, our angels! (scratches head, rubs chin)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters, nor do I seek any profit from this fic.**

**ANY OTHER DAY**

Sephiroth sat on the window sill outside his bedroom, his legs hanging loosely over the edge. He leaned his head against the rough wall and stared at the sky. Nothing really to be seen. Living close to the top of the staff tower, he was above the smog cloud and the lights below were dim and veiled. Now the day had ended and he was once again all alone. He couldn't brush away the sadness anymore. He just sat there and sunk into it.

Every since Angeal and Genesis had entered into his previously empty life, his birthdays had always been the happiest days – they took care of that.

Oh yes, ‚happiest' was the word. Without them he wouldn't even know the meaning of this term, nor care of it. Though on his part he didn't need anything else than to be with them. They wouldn't have to do anything at that, as far as he was concerned; just having them around was more than enough for him to fill his life and his heart.

Now they were not there anymore. Surely, first thing in the morning he had been awaken by the discordant ringing of both his phones, and on each of them was one of his friends – Genesis and Angeal. That had probably been Gen's idea, of course, to have them calling at the same time. It would make him feel cared for and would also prank him to not knowing which one to answer first. He had solved the riddle fast enough by pressing both keys simultaneously and applying each phone to another ear without any hesitation. He had sort of regretted it almost instantly, when the two barked into his ears at the same time:

„Morning, sleeping beauty! Rise and shiiiii-ne!"

„Happy birthday, pal!"

He winced and suddenly both phones were at arm's length, but tears of joy and amusement were already at the corners of his eyes and then he eagerly placed them back onto his ears.

„Thank you, guys:" he couldn't help smiling soo wide. „You really woke me up."

„I know," said Genesis chuckling. „That was the whole point, to prevent you from oversleeping. You do realise the discipline mustn't be left at a loss just because it's your birthday, don't you? What would the men have to say about that if they knew their great General Sephiroth loosened up and lingered in his bed on such a beautiful smoggy day, like this one must surely be back in that ugly dump of yours?"

„Well, we wanted to be the first to wish you all the best for today." Angeal said more quietly in his other ear.

Sephiroth's smile faltered a bit.

„Oh, I don't expect anyone else to notice... Not that I'd care for them to do it anyway." he said with a shrug.

„You might be surprised, buddy." Angeal mused loudly, his voice sounding serious as usual, but with an unmistakable hint of affection.

„Well, at least now, once they've made up their mind that you're not a total freak, like me, heheh!" Genesis mocked.

Sephiroth sat there listening to them, still in his bed, with the quilt gathered around his waist, where it slid when he hastily sat up to grab the phones. Everything around him screamed Genesis' touch to the last bit – the comforter he was using was the green one with purple apples, a present from Gen, who didn't usually have the patience to wait for birthdays when he saw something he liked and wanted to give it to Sephiroth or Gaia knows who else; he would shout ‚happy birthday, Seph!' any day of the year with a huge grin plastered all over his face and a startling hug if so he felt.

And funny presents were his specialty too. The other phone had also been his idea. He had decided that Sephiroth should have different phones for work and for his family and friends, so he could talk safely with them when he wanted to, without the concern of being intercepted, as ‚the family phone' was protected Genesis-style with a jamming device, designed of course by himself. And of course that would not save Sephiroth from Genesis' own hacking when he was in the mood to rummage through it and change Sephiroth's ringtones into the most hilarious and bizarre signals and then give him a call in the middle of a meeting with the president or other stiff ass.

He shifted under the cover leaning against the wall, knees drawn up to his chest. Silver bangs fell over his face – another reminder of Genesis, springing into action with his most dreadful and lethal weapon: a pair of scissors.

Below the large window was Genesis' own bed. The covers were creased and generally his resting place presented itself in a rather untidy manner, as always. More human, he would say. One of his shirts was still thrown on the bed just the way he had left it, the sleeve hanging down to the floor. Angeal's bed, the one facing Sephiroth's, was flawless of course, but though Sephiroth was also such a tidy person, he couldn't bring himself to properly stretch the cover over Genesis' bed and put the shirt away. It felt somehow like acknowledging his departure, like accepting it. He just couldn't do it, not yet anyway. He needed to believe that both his best friends were not that far and there was always a chance of them returning and their lives falling back in place where they belonged.

He knew that wouldn't happen.

When Genesis had decided it was time to leave, he had given Sephiroth the keycard to the apartment that was supposedly his – though he hadn't ever lived there.

It was an entire floor of the staff tower given all to them: Shinra's finest, the sharp peak of the army – General Sephiroth, SOLDIER First Class and his two second-in-command officers, Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley. One huge suite for the General and two others not far from it in terms of size, each with their own training rooms, countless other facilities, a recreational area with library, entertainment center and what not, even a fair-sized pool. Everything for the best of the best.

He could even remember Genesis' reaction when the whole place had been ready to welcome them after the long-lasting restoration and modernization works and they had first visited it to see where they would live. At the beginning Genesis just went from room to room without a word. Seemed that even he, usually such a chatterbox, was overwhelmed and couldn't find his words. Sephiroth sure was, but not by the opulent spaces they had been wandering through. He had seen such things in Wutai before. Instead he felt overwhelmed by an unnamed fear. Then suddenly Genesis shrugged carelessly and brushed the air with one hand, as if removing some bug.

„Hah!" he exclaimed, startling Sephiroth, who was right behind him. „Might as well move each one of us in another end of this Midgar-dump. I mean do they really expect us to fulfill our daily share of jogging just by visiting each other while living _on the same floor_, goddamn it! My folks are rich enough and we have some hell of a house back in Banora ourselves, but this is just crazy! This place IS huge for only three people, when down below in the slums the poor bastards practically climb on each other's feet!"

And suddenly Sephiroth felt the weight leaving his heart.

„We don't have to." he said quietly, but with obvious relief. „We can very well live together in one place. We have been doing it from the beginning, why part now? Don't families live together?"

Genesis turned around and watched him with his bright mako eyes. Then he smiled understandingly, the last hint of fear on his friend's face being so clear to him.

„They do." he nodded. „They really do, _my brother_."

„You can choose your own bedrooms, if you want. I think there must be more than one in the main suite."

He had said ‚the main suite'. Not ‚his' suite. He couldn't even bring himself to think of that enormous place as ‚his' place alone. He didn't even want to.

Genesis shaked his head thoughtfully.

„Nah, I don't really care to. I got used to share with you two the same bedroom when we didn't have a choice and now I'm not particularly fond of changing that..." he fell silent for a few moments, which was rather unusual for him, to say the least.

„Not being able to reach people can do that to you, y'know?" he mused in all soberness. „I mean, with us being so far away from anyone else, so to say... I found myself wishing to at least _hear_ people breathing around me if I could not get near them any other way..."

Another short silence.

„And, heh," he grinned sheepishly, falling back into his usual happy mood, „what am I supposed to do if I have a nightmare or go sleepwalking again? Who's gonna put me back together, huh? Sorry, guys, but you got yourselves stuck with me."

So there they were, all three of them sharing the same apartment once again and, even more, one bedroom, same way they had been doing when they lived in the army barracks, even though this one was large enough to include at least three other beds apart from theirs. Sephiroth hadn't been able to even picture himself alone in that room as his bedroom – and his alone. It was something like living in a train station in terms of size, or at least that had been his impression at first sight. Angeal had been a poor man back in Banora and his family had a small house to live in. Sephiroth, on his part, had spent all of his so-called childhood in a a cubicle the size of a cage, down in the labs, and the emotional Genesis – though rich enough to have anything he desired as a child – was, to put it straight, more than reluctant to sleep alone. Once, when they were in Banora for a short leave, he even remembered how, so many times, after a nightmare, he would run from his home to Angeal's, which was not that far, break in through his window and the next morning Angeal would wake up with Genesis all cuddled up to him in his own bed.

„Really?" Sephiroth had been surprised. „Wouldn't he be mad at you?"

„Why that? It was for me he used to leave the window open. He was more like concerned and even upset about my nightmares. Heck, once, when I had a really bad one, I even wet his bed, eek!"

„You _didn't_! Holy Gaia, how did this happen to you?"

„Hey, I was just a small kid back then! Heh. Next day I had to go back home in a pair of Angeal's trousers, which were of course too large for me, with his father's belt to hold them up. Had to tighten it like two times around my waist."

But there had always been Angeal for him to turn to. Sephiroth had noone at the time and never expected to, either. That was until they showed up and made him change into another person. Yes, he wasn't the same one who used to move blindly like a robot through life, day by day, doing what was expected of him, without dreams, without hope, yet longing for things he couldn't even name. He knew them now: love, care, friendship. The sense of belonging. The warmth of a home. The need to protect and to feel wanted and cared for. He had them all. He knew that all these things were what had finally made him feel human at long last.

Now they were engaged in battle once again. But this would be the hardest one, unlike any other fight they had to put up together in the past. And their leave was part of it. He knew he shouldn't feel sad, nor left behind; he kept in touch with them every day, but still... this was the first time he would have to spend his birthday all alone ever since they knew each other and he was hardly looking forward to it.

* * *

So, as he recalled, Genesis, a day before departing, left them the keycard of his supposed apartment instructing Sephiroth to assist ‚the Shinra dogs' when they would want to search through his so-called belongings for whatever they might think they could find. After all, nobody else beside them, Lazard and their closest friends within the Turks had ever known of them living together.

„Well, that is when they will acknowledge that I'm not just MIA." Genesis had said with a casual shrug.

„What about Angeal?" Sephiroth asked. „Did you set up anything for him as well?"

„Yep, sure did. Something very simple though. They don't expect anything else from him. After all, he IS the ‚stoic' mentor!"

Sephiroth still felt concerned but Genesis just grinned as usual and patted his shoulder.

„Not to worry, brother," he said. „I've got it all covered. It should clean up any suspicion they may have on you helping me. And trust me, it'll be fun. Just wait and see."

Frankly, it had been. Well, sort of...

Sure enough, after Genesis' leaving had proved to be desertion in fact, a bunch of security staff had been sent to search through his place. They seemed awkward enough, as they had never set foot on that floor ever before. One couldn't even get out of the elevator there without a special pass.

On the very door of the suite, beneath Genesis' whole name written in red sparkling letters, there was a bright yellow sticker with an enourmous studded boot kicking the back of a little silhouette and an inscription that said: ‚One size fits all!' Sephiroth could hardly repress the urge to snigger, which made him look at least ten times as stiff as he usually seemed to be in their eyes. They already looked withered in the totally uncomfortable vicinity of the gruff General, visibly annoyed for having to even set his terrible eyes on such low lives.

The one that was in charge with this operation was scribbling something on a clipboard, taking notes apparently with a very official stance. Sephiroth bent down a little and craned over his shoulder to take a peak of what was written. It said: «Disrespectful message». One silver eyebrow raised, but nothing was expressed while the General straightened back to his full regal height. Then he moved aside, placing the card into the slot. Instead of the usual hiss, the door opened with a loud squeak resembling one of a child's toy being stepped on, while the security guards winced all at once. Sephiroth only maintained his composure once again. He just stood still, motioning them to advance with a slight movement of his chin.

Inside, the first thing greeting them was a thick wall of a really bad smell. A mixture of rotten food – cheese probably being the main dish – with dirty clothes and stale air. The place looked totally trashed, Gen-style, that was for sure. Just another neglected home, to their eyes. On Sephiroth's behalf, he was astonished at the way the apartment was completely furnished and even adorned with enough trifles as to make it credible that someone had really been living there. Genesis must have gone through some trouble to have it all set. Worn clothes were thrown everywhere. Bags and wraps of food, either empty or with crumbles and leftovers lay here and there, next to empty bottles and odd socks. The security officer was scribbling again something on his clipboard. «Disorder and neglection.»

In the living there was a huge TV set. One of the guards dug up the remote from a pile of junk food bags and switched it on idly. It was set on a porn channel. Moans and groans filled the air at a hardly bearable level and the officer barked at the guard to shut it down. As it proved, there was another one in the bedroom, set on the same channel. Next to it there was a computer on a low table, which had been left open as its soft humming told. A move of the mouse and the screen lightened to reveal a battle game. A not so fancy one. Lots of other games and stuff like that were to be found, mostly intellectual garbage. On the nightstand it was a tattered volume of Loveless from the Shinra public library, placed face down onto the dusty surface and on the walls all around there were quotes from Loveless written in all directions, in various sizes and colors, some underlined or highlighted with markers. All in all the sight was depressing.

The bathroom was also rather dirty. The kitchen hardly used, with the fridge only half-inhabited by packs of processed food, most of them already expired and exhaling the heavy stench of decay. And more bottles of various liquors, some empty, some half-drained or even still intact.

Everything in that house looked so twisted in Sephiroth's eyes. Genesis was indeed a rather untidy person, but that had only extended to his clothes and other minor things. He could appear messy to those who didn't know him too well, but in his head and his life there was a perfect sense of order and hardly had he ever been at a loss in any situation. Not to mention he was the ultimate computer freak, a brilliant mind when it came to strategy and, heh, the best cook Sephiroth had ever known of, which these poor ‚Shinra dogs' of course knew nothing about and would never find out.

They had never listened to him playing the piano or what-else, they had never shared tears of laughter with him while tripping one another when he was trying to teach Sephiroth how to dance for the annual Shinra ball; they knew nothing about him, absolutely nothing! This graphic display of carelessness and lack of any useful abilities had nothing to do with Genesis for real.

Sephiroth could very well understand what his friend had wanted to do there: create an image of himself that would lead them into underestimating him and his real knowledge and skills, make them see just another average person with excellent fighting abilities but nothing else beyond; yet he couldn't help feeling annoyed at the thought that Genesis might be taken for such an unworthy person. All these narrow minds who couldn't tell their right from their left! As if someone like that could resist in Sephiroth's proximity, or even make it to become his second-in-command to begin with!

Now he could almost ask himself why Gen had thought he would have any shread of fun with this. That is until they found on a small desk a piece of paper pinned down with an empty bottle of scotch, that said:

«Dear fat-ass, low-life, thickheaded poor excuse for a president Shinra,

May the Goddess bless you with every plague available on Gaia, – with scab and piles being at the top of my choice list! As I'm sure you're dying to hear from me again, I'll take care you won't get a good night's sleep from now on. Until then, you and your precious General Stiffroth Of The Armies can kiss my ass good-bye. See ya!»

Sephiroth knew of noone who could honestly stand the old man Shinra, but watching all the security guards trying to fake their outrage over that and sounding like a bunch of warking chocobos scared by some monster while he was heroically trying to keep his face immobile – Genesis' insanely hilarious words still rattling in his mind –, proved to be too much even for him. He tore off the room and down the hall untill he found himself out of the apartment, where he hastily turned around the corner and doubled over with silent laughter, gripping at his sides with both hands.

When the security officer came after him he hardly found the time to straighten himself, but the effort to regain his composure was so overwhelming his eyes were sweating buckets of blinding green light. It could easily be mistaken for rage and the officer gulped for air and practically tried to get away from him _through_ the wall. All the worse for poor Sephiroth's endurance limit.

* * *

So he stayed that morning in his bed with a phone applied on each ear, memories flooding him, and listened to his friends – the only family he ever had. At some point Gillian, Angeal's mom, had been passed one of the phones as well and she also expressed to Sephiroth her best wishes for his birthday. He was happy to hear them all, but he so much wished they weren't just disembodied voices! Angeal had left as well in the end and, though he knew they had to and it had all been settled among them and carefully planned long before, he still couldn't help but feel abandoned. He had gotten used so quickly to coming back after the day's work or some mission to a house that had become a home since he knew he would find somebody there, greeting him with a big grin or a serious but caring face, sitting cross-legged on the floor and turning his computer into a bunch of ill-assorted scraps or slouching onto the couch and throwing quotes from Loveless hidden behind his book – or maybe even preparing one of his famous stupid apple pies, with Angeal obediently peeling the apples for him...

„I wish you were here." he almost whispered, without even realising he had actually expressed his longing in words.

An awkward moment of silence stretched between them.

„Aww, brother!" Genesis said at last, „you know we can't come there anymore. They'd hunt us like dogs. And we're too far anyway."

„I know, I know. I'm sorry, I was just thinking aloud. Don't mind me."

„You just make sure you have a really good day pal, promise? Don't mope around, make the best of it. Go prank somebody for us, heheh!"

Sephiroth smiled wistfully. Genesis and his pranks. Such happy times.

After that the conversation had been cut short and, when the double call had ended, Sephiroth had been left staring aimlessly at both phones, absently fiddling with them. The silence sounded weird. It was the hour when they would stumble upon each other trying to get ready for the day's duties, while Genesis, who was none of a morning person, would wail all along about having to get up that early. Not even a foghorn would wake him up when he didn't want to. Only Sephiroth could manage that, by uttering terrible threats in his most sepulchral voice right into Genesis' ear, like: „Corellian coffee, hot like hell; yummy cereals with honey and cinnamon; freshly toasted bread with apple jelly" and others as such.

Sephiroth pulled himself out of the serene images his mind was picturing and proceeded with the usual activities of a work day like any other day: a quick shower, the breakfast (skipped, as the kitchen looked too empty and quiet and he didn't feel really hungry), then on with the daily duties. They were at war, so there were always battle plans to set up, maps to study, routes to establish, missions to prepare, officers to appoint, papers to sign, troops to inspect and whatever else. Lunchtime came and was passed over, for he didn't even notice. It hadn't been something unusual for him to eat hardly anything all day long before knowing Genesis and Angeal and this was at least one habit he easily fell back into.

Later in the afternoon he had to attend a conference with Lazard and Tseng to establish some joint operations between SOLDIER and the Turks – and only then have they finally expressed their best wishes for him on his birthday in their usual moderate, composed way. Sephiroth thanked them and after that they got back to work and the brainstorming extended until much later in the evening. Reno and Rude had been supposed to join the meeting, as they would have to take a significant part in those operations, but Tseng said he had to send them on a mission with the helicopter and they wouldn't return until late, so only then would they be briefed by him at their arrival. One chattering redhead would have definitely lightened up the sober meeting and, even though Reno wasn't exactly _the_ redhead he missed so much, Sephiroth found himself wishing at some point that at least he had been there to cheer things up with his sharp remarks.

After all was over, he retired to his deserted quarters, finally alone, though he wasn't looking forward to that. In the previous years Genesis and Angeal had always set up a small party for him and their friends from the Turks – Tseng, Rude and Reno –, even Lazard when he could, had joined them. Now they were only so reserved. Just a few words and that was that. He had always thought that, as Genesis was the most open and outgoing of them, they were in fact coming for _his_ sake, because Sephiroth was _his_ friend, not for Sephiroth himself. It looked like he had been right all along. He had suspected that much long before, yet he couldn't help feeling dejected.

So there he was. Routine again. Nothing else to fall back to. Boots removed and placed orderly in the hall. There would be noone to fill them again with scratching powder or what-else – or to place inside them little squeaking toys or other devious things to startle him. Uniform taken off and carefully cleaned and placed on a coat hanger. Shower. Kitchen. Half a toast and off he went again, unable to swallow more. He would grab something in the morning and he would be just fine; during missions there were days when he simply could not find the time to eat anything and he had always been perfectly ok, why bother?

Finally, bedroom. Two deserted resting places, apart from his. Genesis' bed, with the shirt and his own volume of Loveless on the nightstand – the Golden Edition, enlarged with revisions and annotations, which Sephiroth had pre-ordered for him six months before its release. He would have it sent to Gen somehow, as he needed it and had wailed in a previous call about forgetting to take it when he left, though by now he was able to reproduce it word by word to the last comma. To Gen, that was like some sort of a religious book.

He sat on his bed, reluctantly. Something was definitely missing. The room was way too quiet, of course. Ooh, the evenings when, after they were all settled for the night in their beds and the light turned off, Genesis would keep on rattling until Sephiroth, fed up and tired, would grab his pillow and toss it at him to shut him up! And he would get it back in the face followed shortly by Gen's own pillow – and somewhere in this development another pillow would ‚accidentally' hit Angeal's head just to make sure he wouldn't feel left out of things. And they would end up with bed covers all messed up, pointy hairstyles and laughing tearfully like maniacs.

This silence now was confining. As large as the bedroom was, he felt pressed by the walls. He would open the window and breathe in the night air.

He climbed on Genesis' bed to slide the glass panel. Up there at such an altitude a rather sharp breeze pinched his skin causing it to raise into goosebumps at first, but he was used to low temperatures and didn't really mind. Finally he pulled himself out completely through the window and sat on the large sill, wind idly ruffling his long silver strands. He rested his head against the wall and just let himself be.

Veiled lights down in the city. Dim lights up in the sky. Darkness in between.

Silence. The city was too far beneath for its noise to be heard and, anyway, this was ShinRa territory, usually quiet at night.

He just stayed there for a while, sinking into the silence.

At long last, he turned to get back inside. In that very moment the sound of a footstep below his level caught his attention and he looked over the edge to see what was that about. Ah, Scarlett had stepped out on her balcony for a breath of doubtfully fresh air. Maybe just for the view. Duh, not even that!

She stayed a few moments, then got back in. A rather significant ‚thwack' could be heard – and a very dirty swear. Sephiroth pricked his ear questioningly. Silence again. He turned around to get back himself, but his mako-enhanced hearing caught another stifled sound, then a low raspy voice uttered in an angry whisper:

„Ouch! Hey dumbass, take your bloody boot off my hand!"

Something sounded strangely familiar to him.

„Shut the fuck up, you big mouth! My foot slipped. You're gonna wake everyone up in this shit-house, if you haven't already." somebody hissed back.

Sephiroth sat frozen. Now he definitely knew that one. Apart from Reno, there was only one other person that would talk openly about ShinRa so disrespectful. Carefully, he bent over the edge of the sill and peered out, widely opening his emerald mako eyes. Having a perfect night sight due to said mako he could easily discern two silhouettes flattened on the wall right beside Scarlet's balcony. And one of them wore an unmistakable red coat with dark shoulder guards.

Suddenly the world changed in the most mysterious way. Everything was still there as it had been, yet seemed like something was definitely not the same anymore. An unnamed part deep down his inner self had shifted, changing the way he envisioned reality. His heart was pounding in his chest and yet some sort of weight, or dullness, or cloudiness that had obscured his soul before was all gone now.

He didn't think to worry yet, he was just overwhelmed with sheer happiness.

Brushing away the bangs blowing over his face, he whispered with a certain hint of joyful amusement:

„Hey big bro, your red cloak is not much of a help in terms of stealth."

The man looked up to him imediately.

„Geeez, thanks a lot!" he hissed back. „What else is new? I wasn't exactly planning on playing the spider on the wall tonight. Here, grab this, but be careful with it!"

A dark boulder came whizzing in Sephiroth's general direction and he caught it easily with his left hand. It was a backpack. A pretty heavy one too. He was about to toss it inside but, remembering the warning, chose to jump with it back in the bedroom and put the pack aside to protect it in case of another rough landing, then leapt back onto the window sill with a graceful move. Hardly had he got the time to duck, when Genesis already came rolling through the window like a cannonball and landed on his shoulders, then his back and finally he was on his feet again, followed closely by Angeal.

Sephiroth secured the window behind them and then climbed down the bed.

Genesis greeted him with an earsplitting shout, opening his arms widely.

„Come here you sorry-butt! Family hug!"

Sephiroth felt suddenly grabbed by four strong hands, pressed tightly between two wide chests and then lifted up and tossed three times to the ceiling.

„Good thing these walls are soundproof." he stuttered in a haze.

„Yea, whatever. Happy birthday, little brother! You _have_ been moping away, haven't you?" Genesis laughed.

„Uh, I..." Sephiroth sighed, staggering a bit on his feet as he was put down again, while hands were still rubbing his back lovingly and patting his shoulders.

„Forget it! Now we're here, so it doesn't matter anymore." Genesis let himself fall backwards onto his bed with a wide grin plastered all over his face. „Home, sweet home! Woo-hoooo, man, what a night!! And it only just begun!"

Angeal smiled quietly and squeezed a bit Sephiroth's upper arm in his usual reassuring way.

„I'm sorry we couldn't make it earlier, but it had to be dark outside, you know. We bumped into some problems as it was." and his voice grew more threatening, as he threw a very meaningful Look towards Genesis, which of course went right over his head.

„But how... how did you guys do it? I mean you _were_ in Banora when we spoke this morning, were you not?"

„We sure were."

„How did you get here then? You couldn't fly all the way here. It's far enough and there's already a price put on your heads, for Gaia's sake! It's dangerous!"

„A-a-aa, don't preach us!" Genesis sat up, threatening with a finger. „Angeal's speeches are more than enough to make me nauseous. You know you're happy to see us. And I can bet you didn't fulfill your duty for today, so we had to cover for you."

„What are you talking about?" Sephiroth felt truly at a loss.

„I'm talking about the mission of doing your share of pranks for today – and ours, by the way. Did you do anything at all, soldier?"

„I... no." Sephiroth said truthfully.

„See! I thought so myself. I knew we'd have to cover it for you."

„Oh, what have you done this time, Gen?" Sephiroth chuckled, worried though.

„Well, how long a list would you stand to hear?" Angeal barked rolling his eyes and looking really annoyed. „Didn't I grow white hair already? He almost gave me a heart attack, this loony." and he smacked Genesis on the back of his head.

„Dunno why he keeps doing that." the redhead grumbled undertone. „Hasn't anyone told him it may have side effects on my poor shattered mind?"

„I'll show you side effects, you hare-brained--"

„Well," Sephiroth interrupted impatiently, „WHAT has he done already?"

„What not?? As if it wasn't bad enough that we ran into some unexpected guards the very moment we got down from the chopper..."

„Um? Chopper you said."

„Yes, yes, Reno flew us here. We set things up with Tseng earlier today."

„Hmph. That explains a few things." Sephiroth nodded approvingly. „What happened next?"

„Well, we ducked behind some air opening and next thing the wretched beast was not beside me anymore. I could tear my hair, really. I just had this bad feeling he's up to no good, you know very well what I'm talking about. I searched for him everywhere and when I looked over the edge he was already in speed mode and all in a blur, so I couldn't even see him at first."

„Well, he's always been good at creating and enhancing spells."

„Right. Praise the nut. He sure needs it; he's already grown horns as it is. When I could finally locate him he had already ruined almost every window in sight. To cut it short, Reno's he painted it black, I guess. Didn't you?"

„Yep. Guilty as hell."

„Man, that's what I'd call a stab in the back, pal." Sephiroth mused. „I mean, he brought you here and that's how you repay him!"

„Duh!" Genesis shrugged carelessly. „That will serve him well. You know what they say: no good deed goes unpunished, heh. On second thought, I may have done him a favor: you know he likes to sleep late, not unlike yours truly, and this time he's really tired as he flew us all the way here, so I thought I might as well give him a hand with that."

„How generous of you. He'll probably notice it anyway. He's a Turk, he sees things others don't."

„Oh really?! 60 gil says he won't, and another 40 that tomorrow morning, when he sees he's still dark outside – or so it will look, heheh! – he turns his skinny tail to the window and goes back to sleep."

„Are we taking bets here?" Angeal growled.

„Why of course we are! But Angii, you put the money, cause it appears I'm broke already." Genesis muttered, checking his pants' pockets. „I could swear I had some change somewhere here, guess I lost it when I was lining the walls outside."

Angeal snickered.

„Then don't bet."

„Can't. It's a winner. Put the money for me, bro. I'll pay you back."

„Right!"

„Genesis, Tseng will be mad." Sephiroth huffed.

„Aah, Tsengy... hmm, did I overlook his window? Mmm-hm, let me think..." Genesis rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then his face lightened up. „Aah, I remember now: he's the one with the sparkling rainbow. Ooh, my best one so far!" Genesis sighed blissfully. „Wish I did it here, to cheer you up. It's not too late though."

„Knock it off, I've not finished with you yet!", Angeal barked. "Hear _this_, Seph, on one of Rufus' windows he sketched some pattern to make it look like it was cracked all over – and you know that obsessed nut has a five-inch-thick glass at his windows, the sort they used for the space program..."

„Good ole Ruckus..." Genesis mused. „He and his priceless obsessions."

„Shut up, you pest! All in all I think he managed to mess up a few storeys, don't make me elaborate on this. Come to think of it, too bad that Hojo creep is not staying up here as well. On him I wouldn't have had anything to object if this nut even blasted the wretched bastard's place."

Sephiroth was already sniggering helplessly. Trust Genesis to inflict the maximum amount of damage he could, if he only had the chance. Now the redhead was rolling on the carpet, howling with laughter, hands on his stomach and knees drawn up to his chest.

„What can I do?" he stuttered. „It was fun."

Angeal grunted.

„Well, the fact is in the end I had to practically drag him with me by the collar to prevent him from spending at least half a night painting the whole damn ShinRa tower – or worse – and that's precisely when Scarlett had to pop her head out like some devil-in-the-box thing and next you know we were sprawled on the wall right beside her, in plain view. Good thing she doesn't have a mako sight, otherwise we were doomed."

Genesis was still giggling uncontrollably: „If you see tomorrow the bloody bitch sporting a black eye or a broken nose and some sore spots, then you'll know... She had to draw out her ugly face for the evening breath of pollution precisely when we were going past her window and she almost bumped into us. Had to stick to the wall like a chewing gum, dammit, while she was taking in the view! Guess she tripped over my foot when she got back in. Duh, what can I do?? I have these long legs, might as well put them to good use!"

„You're a..."

Yeah, yeah, I know that, I'm a hare-brained dumb-headed irresponsible nutcase, now bite me! And you know something? You forgot to mention old fatass Shinra."

Angeal froze on the spot, getting visibly paler.

„WHAT!! No. Genesis, this is serious trouble! Tell me you didn't!"

„Did too." Genesis sneered. „His bedroom window was cracked open. Couldn't resist to that, now could I?"

Angeal tugged at his hair dejectedly.

„We're doomed." he whispered in despair. „Should I even ask? I mean, do I _really_ want to know?..."

„Well, to solve your dilemma, I'll tell you anyway. He was already fast asleep, well cuddled, one arm hanging down to the floor, his jug of instant tea set aside, only half-drained and still steaming. Took his hand and..."

„No-o."

Genesis giggled insanely. „Well, that definitely gave a new meaning to the ‚instant tea' thing. I didn't even wait to see the end of it. Took off and here I am."

Angeal drew a deep breath closing his eyes, then seemed to gather his witts.

„Oh well, what's done is done. Let's move on. Genesis, the sack!"

„Right."

The redhead grabbed the luggage and, kneeling on the floor, began to unpack. First he took out a rather large cardboard box.

„What's in there?" Sephiroth asked, peering curious over his shoulder.

„What do you think it is? Open it up and see for yourself."

Sephiroth took the box and lifted the lid carefully. Inside there was a huge birthday cake, the scent of apples, of course, reaching his nose in the most pleasant way. Only the icing was missing.

„Ooh!" he murmured overwhelmed. „You had this done and carried it all along with you!"

„What! You didn't expect me to bake it here, now did you? I wanted to buy me some more time with you, so I had it done already."

„Said Speedy, right after he took his said time to turn the whole ShinRa building upside down." Angeal muttered, rolling his eyes.

Sephiroth only smiled quietly, box still in his hands, then set it aside on the bed.

„Gen, I didn't expect you to come at all."

„Heh," Genesis smirked, elbowing Angeal. „Told ya we fooled him."

Sephiroth's smile faltered a bit.

„Indeed." he said with an almost sulking face. „Why wouldn't you tell me though? Why let me--„

„_Mope away_. C'mon, say it! You won't die."

„All right!! _Mope away_, there you go! Happy now? Why let me _mope away_ all day long if you knew you would come eventually? That was harsh."

„Because, my precious soul, we didn't actually know if we would be able to make it in the end and we only wanted to spare you the disappointment, so we kept it a secret. Better safe than sorry, wouldn't you say so?"

Sephiroth pondered over it, then nodded.

„Are you still mad?" Genesis inquired, putting on his irresistible large shiny ‚puppy eyes'. Sephiroth only chuckled.

„I wasn't mad at you to begin with."

„Aww, my _baby_-brother, the ever-forgiving tender soul! Come over here!" and he pulled the taller man into a hug, which Sephiroth allowed willingly. „«_Even if the morrow is barren of promisses, I shall always return to the place where you stand_.»"

„Quoting Loveless again, are you?"

„Always." then he released Sephiroth and clapped his hands. „Now, where were we? Oh, the birthday cake. Me and Gil have tried this new recipe. It turned out great, you'll see. Um... Angeal, where the hell is the cream?" Genesis shouted, rummaging around through the sack again.

„It's in your pocket, you twit! You put it there yourself. And stop howling in my ear!"

Genesis searched himself and produced the named jar. „Uh, right! Sorry, bro."

He fumbled about some more and got out from the sack some cans with – most probably – his prized stupid apple juice.

„Uh, it's hot in here." he mumbled and proceeded to take off his coat. Sephiroth, who had taken the cake and was about to head for the kitchen, stopped short in his steps and stared at him wide-eyed.

„Genesis, look at yourself, you've lost weight!"

His two belts were buckled tighter than he ever remembered and Genesis really looked slimmer. And paler, come to think of it. There were some certain grey shadows lining the skin around his eyes. And in his hair...

„Look at me!" Sephiroth demanded. „Turn around! What's that behind your left ear? I haven't seen it before."

„It's nothing." Genesis unconsciously brushed one hand over his hair in the said area, trying to hide what looked like a silver strip.

„You're growing _**white**_ already?!..."

„Well," he shrugged calmly, in all soberness, „I'm not getting any younger, Seph."

„Gen, you're not even twenty-five yet!"

„Yeah, and I'm already rotting away and fast. Ok now, just forget it, I'm not over and done yet. Let's take care of that cake for now." and he turned around, raising his hand to cast a spell, but Angeal grabbed him hurriedly by the wrist and grunted with a stern look.

„Oh no, you're not going into speed mode again. You're already tired as it is. We're gonna do it the old-fashioned way. You just make that call."

Sephiroth watched him quizzically, but Angeal didn't elaborate more, only released Genesis' arm, who nodded and went to the living, producing his phone and snapping it open. The silver-haired only heard him saying: „Yeah, guys. Fifteen minutes." Then he closed it and placed it back in one of his pants' pockets.

„Ok," he clapped his hands again. „Let's go to work. I'll have enough time to rest after that; we're staying over for the night."

On one hand, Sephiroth was really happy to have them there and even felt relieved. On the other...

„Gen..." he inquired hesitantly, „you think it's safe? I mean, after your little ‚fun' tonight they might suspect it was you and have the place searched."

„Of course they'll know it was me! That's the idea. I even had some clones sent to run havoc around the HQ, to make things clear. But they would never think to look for yours truly right _here._" he grinned, pointing his finger to the floor. „This is, in fact, the safest place for us right now. C'mon, let's move, we've got things to do."

In the next ten minutes the cream changed its place from the jar onto the cake, in elaborate windings. The cans were placed in the refrigerator to cool a bit and a few sandwiches were quickly prepared, the halved loaf of bread that was left by Sephiroth earlier in the evening being waved at him by a reproachful Genesis, who knew all too well what that meant. Everything being set, the food was carried to the living room and placed on a table.

Sephiroth watched the whole thing thoughtfully.

„Guys," he mused. „this is quite a big cake for the three of us. And all these cans... I mean I do feel hungry now," (one sheepish look towards the redhead) „but still, unless you thought you should provide me with supplies for another week or so..."

Genesis chuckled.

„We'll take care of that too from now on, little bro. But tonight there are other plans set in motion."

His phone chimed once on that very moment, and he took it out and checked it. „Oh, they're already here. Better let them in." and, snapping his fingers, he ordered loud and clear: „Elevator door – access granted. Front door – access granted."

Sephiroth's last pieces of the puzzle finally fell in place.

„But I thought..." he said to himself, hiding the slight hint of a relieved smile behind his bangs. Then he felt an arm being thrown around his shoulders.

„You thought they didn't care about you and they used to come just for my sake, didn't you?" Genesis mouthed in his ear. „So like you, always disconsidering yourself. Well, the fact is Lazard felt really bad about having to let you wither like that all day long. He does care about you, though you won't hear him say so too soon. And Tseng called twice to hurry us up and said you had this really looong face during the whole meeting. Even Reno blabbered all the way here so bad about you staying all by your lone self without him to fry your brains up, that we seriously considered gagging him to shut him up at some point. I mean he was beating me to it, which was utterly unacceptable, heh!"

And sure enough, they were there, filing in: first Lazard, who had changed his usual official suit into a more casual shirt, Tseng, also looking kinda strange in his non-Turk outfit and of course the inseparables, Rude and Reno, one still clad in his impeccable dark blue suit, while the other was proudly wearing a T-shirt with a sparkling print and a large bracelet with tribal carvings, though he still had his EMR attached to his other wrist.

The rest of the evening passed for Sephiroth in a pleasant, happy blur, shaking hands, being cheered and unwrapping various little gifts – this sweater surely comes from Gillian; „Yeah, you know Gil's always worried about you catching a cold one day if you keep walking around bare-chested, heh! And there, more herbs for your soothing baths after the mako sessions with Hojo The Creep too." Oh, and the e-organizer, from Lazard, thank you, it's useful! One set of potions from Rude, that will come in handy sometime. The dark blue T-shirt with the almost injurious logo of a rock band – that's Reno, of course. Together with the latest album of the said band – „Yo, this was the last and I practically snatched it from a guy's hand! Along with his fingers, mwa-ha-haa!" And one Wutaian ensemble of finely crafted ninja stars from Tseng, for his precious collection of weapons. Ooh, they're exquisite! And Angeal, with two books of strategy. Thank you, pal, I really needed these, even looked for them. „I know, Lazard told me." And „Um, thanks for the rainbow, Genesis. I always wanted to have one of your works." (that was Tseng) „Huh? Boss, what's with that, yo??" (you name him).

And last, but not least, Genesis, with a fancy cleaning set for Sephiroth's beloved Masamune and his most recent creation developped together with Reno: a device that, attached to Seph's phone, would enable him to go on the sly through any given network in search of useful information. „One cunning job, take my word for it." „Yo, brother, I'd say. Artwork, at its finest!"

Lazard:

„Hmpf, no distance is too great to keep you two hot-heads from scheming together, is it? One red-headed computer freak is a danger either way, two it's a real blast already."

Tseng:

„I so agree! Anyway, you have to multiply this, it sounds useful. And don't wait for our birthdays. We need it too."

„Awww, now how did I know you'd say that, boss?" (Reno again, juggling with a small box he had produced from his pocket and tossing around tiny little things for everyone.)

Somewhere along the way the sandwiches disappeared, the cake was sliced to portions and the juice cans were drained, one by one. A bottle of fizz had also been opened, its cork popping cheerfully to the ceiling – and the discussions progressed to recalling happy or funny moments, most of them having one or another redhead deviously involved.

„... And I was sick and tired of the way that Hojo creep kept messing around with my _baby_-brother, so I grabbed the skinny scarecrow by the collar and the belt and shoved him into the mako leftovers tank. Next day old fatass Shinra called me to account for it and I was like: With all due respect, , any experiment involving other people used as... eeek!... _specimens_ must also be experienced first hand by its initiator himself in order to achieve the most accurate results. No true scientist would have it any other way." (that was Genesis)...

„I remember that, wasn't it just before the last annual parade? Boy, how I hated those! Good thing we, as Turks, don't have to actually march off, but it's boring like hell as it is. That one wasn't though. Didn't you guys show up with those crazy hairstyles, yo??" (ooh, Reno!)

Now _that_ had been awful. Genesis had just perfected his enhanced Speed Spell and had chosen the night before the parade, of all nights, to test it. After Sephiroth and Angeal had fallen asleep, in a matter of seconds Genesis did their hair up in zillions of really thin braids tied with minuscule bows and the next morning, though they had desperately tried to unplait it, brushed it fiercely and even soaked it wet to stretch it back to its usual way, it had only been all for the worse. Both Angeal and himself had to show up at the parade with loony hairstyles resembling two bloody hay cocks. Genesis, on his behalf, was still wearing a few brightly colored bows in his ball of hair, pretending he had forgotten to remove the wretched things. Of course everyone was staring at them, ‚discreetly' splitting their sizes with laughter and wiping their tears joyfully. All this while Genesis was glaring in all seriousness and barking at the dumbfounded SOLDIERs, who were desperately trying to maintain their poker faces: „What are you staring at, SOLDIER? Did you see something funny?"

Other happy days had also been recalled and made fun of and finally, when their friends said their good-byes and left for their quarters – and he, together with Angeal and Genesis, got ready for the night and settled in their beds, Sephiroth was finally at peace.

He just lay there quietly in the dark, listening to their soft breathing. He knew the future would be dark and there was a rocky path in front of them, waiting to be covered. He didn't exactly know what would come and when, but things had to be taken one by one and for now he had got his grain of light and he was grateful for this day.

* * *

**Music listened in the making of this:**

**System of a Down - "Lonely day" (for the **_**'mope-away'**_** parts)  
Hampton the Hampster - "The Hampster Dance" (for the funny parts)  
Green day - "Good riddance" (for the ending)**


End file.
